Another great resource…

Recently stumbled across this great website;

Link

Again some really nice pieces of work on here that helps to get the 'cogs' moving.

Abduzeedo

I forget how great (a resource) this website is only to re-discover it when re-shuffling my bookmarks.

This is a reminder to me to visit it more than I do. Link

There are some great, great examples of creativity to be found in it's vaults.

Blu-ray Animation

I have just completed an animation for a very well known retailer. The purpose of the animation is to inform their customers about the benefits of Blu-ray, and I am pretty darn pleased with the finished result. It was hard work at times but I am pleased with the result and I have linked a snip-it for you all to enjoy! You will see it in every one of their stores with an Electrical department, playing on their Blu-ray promotional displays.

Link

(Quicktime needed)

Andy Gilmore

Stumbled across this guy (Andy Gilmore) through another Blog, obviously very talented and the colour work is incredible. I am trying to use Adobe Illustrator (not sure what process Andy uses) in new ways and some of the results resemble Andy's work - just not as good.

Have a look around his Flickr site, particularly the ink detail drawings, absolutely awesome.

Link

Quark 8x8 London

I attended the Quark 8x8 London 'talks' last week at The Imperial College and enjoyed hearing what motivates and inspires like-minded (with myself) people (designers). #8x8

Quark have now added videos of each (all 8) to their website. They are worth a watch, whether you are a designer or not. I recommend John Bateson's witty and creative presentation, Ben Terrett hosts.

Link

Audio Boo

OK, you heard it here first, or didn't. I have been hearing lots about AudioBoo over the past week or so. They have just made an 'open' call for investors, they are looking for £10,000 per person, now that is quite a lot of money. I'm not going to be one of the investors because I don't have the means - the trouble is, I THINK, this could be one the next big sites.

Stephen Fry seems to like it, enough said?

The answer?

OK, now this I like. A matt black car.

Black is my favourite colour, or is for the moment. A 'favourite colour' is a difficult thing for a designer to have, for any length of time anyway, but, for now I have settled on black. I have so many contradictions to the previous sentence I am going to stop talking about colour now!

So anyway, is this the answer to the gold and chrome'd cars? Or just another evolution?

Thank you Justin for the image.

Chrome or Gold?

The question here is not really Chrome or Gold but more Good or Bad 'taste'? Last night myself and a friend stumbled upon this Audi R8 that had been finished in Chrome!? Now I'm not sure how this is achieved but the effects are both eye-catching and eye-brow raising.

As my friend and I embarked on a discussion he showed me a picture that he had just recently taken of a Bugatti Veyron (this is a £1,000,000 car) that had been finished in Gold!! Again, who knows how this is done and what the metal is actually made up of, I'm guessing it is painted with a paint that contains tiny flakes of actual gold rather than a plating system?

The question is, do you love or hate these cars, they're kinda cool but would you ever drive one? Bringing it into my main passion, design (of every kind), the question is, what is good and and what is bad design. Is the shock, the repulsion, the response alone what we desire or should it always fall into the realm of what is acceptable. I'm not keen on the cars myself although I was WOW'ed enough to take a photo, who knows where this step will lead.

Break the barriers and see where it goes.

(And somebody tell the guy with the Bugatti that if he has a gold car he really should get gold wheels)

Great Creative

Philips have put together this digital promo for their Ambilight and Cinema 21:9 size TV screens, working with the agency - Tribal DDB. It works really well, it is engaging, fun and most all impressive. I am not sure how long the link will be active for but it was fun while it lasted.

Link

Handmade Font

Stumbled across this interesting font offering. I think that they have probably priced themselves away from the reach of the average user but looking over there examples they do have some good ideas on the usage.

Website

Seth Godin

Tip of the week. Read what Seth Godin has to say. Not every day, it doesn't have to be every week, just make time to read his blog. He makes the obvious, well obvious.

Link

iPhone review from 2007

This is great (see link). It shows how the so called 'guru' gets it wrong time and time again. It is what amazes me about humankind, just how bad our memory serves us. We can be so hard on one another but scandals bought to our attention can be forgotten in a second!

Link

Rossi / Lorenzo Catalunya 2009

Valentino Rossi is probably the greatest motorcycle racer ever, honestly. He has a new 'team mate' that could be his successor, Jorge Lorenzo, they don't really get on. Last week they battled for 1st and 2nd place at the Catalunya Grand Prix.

Best race of the season? The decade? Maybe. Last 2 laps are linked below (YouTube). Watch it and behold the magic of MotoGP and Valentino Rossi!

Video Clip

BMW X3 X-Drive

OK so this is a strange post. I originally created this blog so that I would have a place to store cool things as I spot them and so that I have a place to muse about my favourite subjects; design, film, technology…

But, last week I decided that I would get 2 new tyres for my BMW X3 2.0 TDI, the rear tyres were low on tread and getting close to being illegal. To cut a long story short, after gigantic labour costs from a BMW dealership and a whole load of upset it turns out that you can not change just 2 of the tyres. The BMW X3 has a 'clever' X-Drive system that senses load pressures on each wheel and adds or reduces power where needed. 2 new tyres sent this system completely mad, resulting in the car kangaroo-ing, clunking and banging from the drive shafts and differential. The little men running around in the computers of the car were being relayed messages telling them that the car was stuck in mud or the like (because of the difference in drag / tread / weight displacement) so they kept trying to re-correct it. Mad, I think so. Fix, a further 2 tyres to replace perfectly good ones!

Cool Skipping